405: Chapter 16 “Do You Agree with My Philosophy?
405: Chapter 16 “Do You Agree with My Philosophy?
“Jun Mountain?”
Deng Baiyi murmured softly, repeating this Taoist title.
She had never heard of it.
Deng Baiyi knew too little about the matters of the Cultivation World.
“Logically, the position of Yuqing Pavilion Master should only be held by a woman, True Master Jun Shan should have abstained,” Cheng Zhi said with a bitter smile, “But back then in Yuqing Pavilion, several successive Pavilion Masters passed away prematurely.
The most recent one fell victim to a plot, dying unexpectedly in the Demon Country…
If he hadn’t taken the position, Yuqing Swordsmanship would have been left in an awkward situation without successors.”
“What happened later?” Deng Baiyi pressed on.
“The Battle of Poison, wherein Taoist Jun Shan died in the war.
Although he perished in battle, he left behind a significant legacy for both pavilions.”
Cheng Zhi sighed, “In the Yuqing Pavilion dojo, the only portrait of a man that hangs is that of this true master.
The Tai Shang House dojo also has his portrait.”
“…”
Deng Baiyi’s expression was complex, uncertain of what to say.
So, the one who had just guided her, was he the reincarnated True Master Jun Shan relearning what he once knew?
“Junior Sister Deng, you know about me,” she said as she looked at the yellow paper, remarking, “Sister doesn’t have much talent in cultivation, I just love reading miscellaneous books.
When I had nothing to do, I read about the life of True Master Jun Shan.
The portrait you’ve engraved on this paper resembles him so closely from his youth…
it’s as if they were carved from the same mold!
How did you know what he looked like when he was young?”
“These past few days, I’ve been dreaming.
I dreamt of this true master…”
Deng Baiyi fell silent for a moment, then gave a rather absurd reason, “He guided me in swordsmanship in my dreams.”
“A divine being appearing in dreams?
There’s actually such a thing…
No wonder your progress has been so rapid.”
Cheng Zhi was astonished but showed no doubt.
She pressed her palms together and quickly made a wish, “Could the ancestor spirit appear and guide me as well?
The major competition within the Pavilion is coming up, Cheng Zhi doesn’t hope for a top three finish, just to pass the assessments…”
…
…
Back mountain.
Clouds and mists twined, thunder rolled, and between two colossal mountains, a crevice was cleaved as if by an axe.
This crack, covered in lightning, faintly transformed into a solid prison.
If one were to get closer, they would see.
Inside this prison, there sat a woman.
Clothed in a black garment bathed in thunder, suppressed within the prison, with hands stacked over the Dantian, although she was resting with closed eyes, a natural aura of command exuded from her.
Compared to the two mountains enveloped in mist, the pressure exuded by the black-garbed figure felt even more overwhelming!
“Junior brother.”
True Master Chong Kan slowly opened his eyes.
He gazed towards the end of the clouded back mountain, and as the words “junior brother” left his mouth, the clouds immediately dispersed, revealing a child in a white Daoist robe.
True Master Jun Shan, with hands clasped behind his back and a languid manner, slowly strolled along, eventually arriving in front of the massive mountain.
He lifted his head, gazing at the towering figure above him, and sighed deeply, “True Master Chong Kan, brother, I have a question that I really can’t understand.”
True Master Chong Kan was somewhat surprised.
His junior brother, though his previous life ended prematurely, was exceptionally gifted.
In his previous life, he almost always understood things regarding cultivation on his own, never once asking any questions.
Had it not been for moving on too soon, “dying” early.
He even believed that Junior Brother Jun Shan’s future accomplishments might surpass those of Senior Brother Xiao Yao.
“You may ask.” Faced with this rare situation, Chong Kan grew interested and spoke with a heavy tone.
“So many years have passed…”
“Do you always prefer sitting so high?
Doesn’t it tire you?”
True Master Jun Shan raised his eyebrow in confusion and asked, “You looking down at me, to see clearly, need to bend your body; me looking up at you, to see clearly, have to crane my neck…
Is sitting here really more comfortable than on the ground?”
As he spoke, he sat down on the ground, disregarding the dust and the expected demeanor of a great Taoist real person.
The reason he had chosen to hover during his previous conversation with Deng Baiyi, maintaining eye level, was because of the “impression” Chong Kan had left on him in his previous life.
He didn’t want to look up anymore.
It was too tiring.
“The ground is filthy; sitting on it in such a manner, what kind of appearance does that make?”
Chong Kan truly did not expect his junior brother to ask such a question, and he couldn’t help but frown and rebuke, “Jun Shan, you must remember you are a great true person of the Taoist way.
If you go outside, do not behave without propriety and lose face for the Taoist community.”
“…”
True Master Jun Shan sighed helplessly; he had actually anticipated such a response from his senior brother.
One can only say.
After so many years, nothing about Senior Brother Chong Kan has changed.
At that moment, from beneath where Chong Kan sat, the prison echoed with a mocking laugh.
“Hehehe…”
“If he did not sit like that, how could he command the respect of the Taoist way?”
Tang Fengshu slowly opened her eyes.
Although enveloped by the Thunder Technique, she still sensed the outside sounds.
Her pair of phoenix eyes burst with dazzling light, passing through the Thunder Pool, settling on Taoist Jun Shan not far away.
Tang Fengshu mocked expressionlessly, “Some people sit high because they have climbed high.
Others simply cling to power and cannot let go.
If one would condescend to sit on the ground, then the prison underneath will no longer hold anyone; how could he accept such an outcome?”
Countless primordial energies collided wildly within the prison of the Thunder Technique, sending out a sharp crackling noise!
While two mountains pressed down upon the prison from above.
It was useless.
What truly suppressed this prison was not mountains, but a person.
“Buddhists have Bodhisattvas who offer themselves to eagles to enlighten the masses.”
Chong Kan spoke with lowered brows, “What I am doing now is no different; willing to sacrifice myself to uphold the honor of the Taoist community, Chong Kan would not hesitate to die a thousand times.
If I don’t hold this prison, one day, the reputation of the Taoist way will be ruined by your hands.”
“Taoists honor you as their leader, which is the biggest joke.”
Tang Fengshu scoffed, “The vast righteous energy of the world, unfortunately, is held in the palm of a hypocrite like you.”
This clash was all heard by Jun Shan.
This young Reincarnated True Person rested his elbow on his knee, his chin in hand, prepared to watch the drama unfold patiently.
Sadly,
With a sweep of Chong Kan’s sleeve, the lightning raining from the sky thickened several-fold, and within the prison, nothing could be heard but pained groans, no more mockery, no more laughter.
“Hey, hey, summoning lightning like that, isn’t it a bit too brutish…”
Taoist Jun Shan hurriedly tried to mediate, “Kids don’t know better, a few words are enough, how could you be so serious?
Tang is just frank; don’t strike her with Thunder Technique anymore.
If something happens to her, when the eldest senior brother comes out of isolation, it will be hard for you to explain.”
Chong Kan outwardly appeared indifferent, as if deaf to these words.
Now in the Taoist community, almost no one could persuade him to show mercy.
However, Taoist Jun Shan, evidently, was different.
After such admonishment, the thunder in the sky eased somewhat.
“Say less and save yourself the misery of physical punishment.”
Taoist Jun Shan gathered his Divine Thought into a voice that entered the cell.
Alas.
It was Tang Fengshu who truly ignored it as if it did not exist.
Even with her hair hanging down and her body in disarray, she still wore that indifferent face, looking up sarcastically, “Don’t stop, keep going!
If you dare, strike me dead!”
Boom!
Great True Master Chong Kan pressed down with his palm, and in an instant, thunder roared so loudly that it drowned out the entire sky above the back mountain.
Taoist Jun Shan quickly stood up, raising his sleeves and flipping his palms.
Whoosh!
The grass on the back mountain surged, each blade turning into a flying sword!
If there had been no reincarnation.
The wild grass rising to the sky would have created a spectacular and vast sight.
But alas, there was no if.
Only when Taoist great masters dissipate their cultivation and accept Silent Annihilation prematurely do they have a chance to cast a glimmer of spirit into the human world and live a “second life.”
This “second life” sounds beautiful, but it’s actually very cruel.
How difficult it is to cultivate to the realm of Yang God.
For a vain and elusive fantasy, one must scatter all their Primordial Energy and start over from the beginning.
The spiritual roots of the reincarnated may not be stronger than those of their previous lives.
The memories retained by that glimmer of spirit may not fully resurge.
Taoist Jun Shan was one in ten thousand, fortunate.
Not only had he successfully reincarnated, but that glimmer of spirit had also smoothly resurged.
But at that moment, his cultivation realm was far from comparing to his peak days of the past.
Thus, the sky full of wild grass merely flew up tens of feet before abruptly halting.
The Thunder Technique mastered by Great True Master Chong Kan simply trembled slightly and shattered all the wild grass in the sky into ash—
The Thunder Technique swamped the back mountain for a good half a quarter of an hour.
This time.
No trace of doubt, sarcasm, or ridicule could be heard.
The ash of grass fluttered through the air with the wind, passing by True Master Jun Shan’s face and causing his wide sleeves to flutter as well.
“Elder brother…”
“What you are doing is really not right.”
The Daoist-robed youth watched the scene with eyes filled with both fear and astonishment.
Tang Fengshu’s figure, curled up in the cell, resembled the ash of the grass flying all over the sky to a great extent.
Both looked withered.
Until the very end, Tang Fengshu did not plead for mercy.
Thus, the Thunder Technique simply continued on.
True Master Jun Shan had thought that Chong Kan was going to give Tang Fengshu a bit of punishment, thinking that on behalf of the carefree True Person, as long as the other party was willing to beg for mercy, it would stop at that.
But now he realized that his thoughts had been too naive.
“There is no grass that won’t bend in this world.”
Chong Kan spoke slowly, “While I preside over the Taoist ways, there can be no paths within the seven houses that are not straight.
Little brother, do you agree with my Tao?”
“…”
This cold question froze the air of the back mountain.
True Master Jun Shan’s expression also became solemn.
Entering the back mountain this time, he had originally wanted to catch up with his longtime estranged elder brother.
A few days earlier at Carp Lake, he had seen Deng Baiyi practicing swordsmanship, and he understood the reasons behind Tang Fengshu being confined to the back mountain.
For this fateful young woman, True Master Jun Shan wanted to do more than just impart swordsmanship.
He wanted to help, to mediate.
Although he could not guarantee that Chong Kan would immediately release Tang Fengshu,
At least, the young World Pavilion Master could suffer a little less.
But now he realized he was wrong.
He and Chong Kan had no past to appreciate anymore.
Different paths lead to different ends.
He did not agree with Chong Kan’s Tao.
Just that alone didn’t seem like much.
But as he looked at the withered grass burnt by the Thunder Technique, scattering and falling, an inexplicable chill rose from the depths of Jun Shan’s heart.
He felt a coldness.
That chill came from the high and mighty figure in black robes.
So this was what it meant to sit aloft.
“To be honest, elder brother…”
True Master Jun Shan sighed, picked up a stubborn piece of grass ash from the ground, and prepared for the worst.
He spoke earnestly and honestly, “I really do not agree with your Tao.”
The chill in the air remained.
But there were no more thunderous sounds.
“Great truths of the world are not about superiority.
It’s okay if you disagree.”
Chong Kan spoke seriously, “Little brother, after your rebirth and relearning, your progression…
seems to be slower than before, you’re only at Grotto Heaven right now.
When do you plan to advance to the Yin God realm?”
“Is cultivation really that important?”
True Master Jun Shan gazed at his elder brother above.
Chong Kan sank into contemplation.
After a long time, he asked earnestly, “If cultivation is not important, then what is?”
“In my view, being alive and living according to one’s heart is the most important.”
True Master Jun Shan let his sleeves fall but still clutched that piece of grass ash.
He looked towards the deeper end of the back mountain.
There was the direction where the carefree True Person was in quiet meditation.
With a trace of envy and a hint of emotion in his voice, Jun Shan said, “The eldest brother once said, better to be carefree for a moment than to relive a lifetime.”
…
…
(Two updates for today.
Thank you for your patience, good night.)